Old Warriors and their Dirty Tricks
by Terrance Dulin
Summary: Take one old, seasoned, mostly blind Zoid Pilot, mix in a little bit of genius ingenuity, as well as some smart-aleck humor, and you have Terrance Dulin! *grinning* Tada! R&R, tell me what ya think!


1 (I own Terrance Dulin, and the rest of the Gato Team. If you want to use us, then talk to me. Acri owns Arin Swifter. I don't own Zoids, of course. If it was, then there'd be a lot more devious doings, and a lot less Harry Champ.)  
  
2  
  
3 Old Warriors and their Dirty Tricks  
  
Chapter One: Champ Team Vs Blitz Team  
  
I didn't sweat. I didn't breathe hard. I had done this plenty of times before, and come out OK. Some of the weapons and other things equipped by the Blitz Team were of my company's origin. I am Terrance Dulin, owner of Dulin Manufacturing. A man who made a deal with the man destined to be king for once. The little bugger didn't know he was signing a deal with the devil, and just sold his soul.  
  
I talked with Harry Champ before this, and made a deal with him. (A/N: Refer to Acri's story New Mercenary for the whole story on that. ^_^) The basis was that I'd help him get rid off of his addiction for Leena. Of course, this started as a deal with the Blitz team, but I was well aware of that, and preferred to keep my debts in line, as well as keeping those who owed me money with that line as well. They owed me, and I didn't care, this would probably make up for that. We were going to win, or I was, at least.  
  
I saw their Zoids launch from their hover cargo on the screen. I was fringing the battlefield, hidden somewhat near some ruins. They wouldn't see me, even with their pilot. That bugger Harry didn't bother to install the jammer I had given him, so we were running with no extra radar cover. That wasn't good. They didn't know who I was, and didn't even see me when they started out, even though my Zoid was quite a peculiar color.  
  
I am Terrance Dulin, as before stated. I am forty now, well past my battling prime, but I still haven't lost my edge. I don't show off at the Zoid trials, due to the fact that it would only attract attention, so I am content to use a non-Sphinx Zoid not of my creation, and run it through the track, making mediocre times and decent marks in shooting. That wasn't completely right, due to the fact that I can't see out of my left eye, nor much of my right, so I used a piloting 'program' named Ziggi to move me on the battlefield. I hadn't been in a real battle in a long time, and left it up to the other members of my team to battle, me being the tactical commander. Today, I was piloting the Purple Haze Sphinx.  
  
The reason for such a definition of my Zoid was that I had built several of them, all coded with my fingerprints and Ziggi so that I, and only I, could pilot them without causing a ruckus. They were known as the Purple Haze [Color: Purple], the Tequila Sunrise [Color: Gold], Red Red Wine [Color: Red], Pina Colada [Color: White], Margarita-Ville [Color: Green], Blue 42 [Duh… Color: Blue], Lucy's Sky of Diamonds [Color: Black], and the Disco Inferno [Color: Brown and Orange]. Each had their reason for such names. A tweak of the equipment on a move-by-wire frame made up the core components of each of these Zoids, and most didn't have the cockpit in the head either. Only two did, and those were the Disco Inferno and the Margarita- Ville. I didn't need to navigate, Ziggi would always do that for me, and I could get by with piloting those two by feel when it came down to needing to.  
  
The Purple Haze was one of my more devious Sphinx Zoids. It had an EMP Generator at the bottom of the 'stomach', right below the cockpit. Since I don't need to do my own navigating, the cockpits of most of the Sphinx Zoids are in the stomach, better shielded and armored than the head. This made me an even nastier opponent. The Purple Haze EMP would stretch over the whole area of the battlefield, and then some. Other than that, the Purple Haze was the meaning of Light Armory. Four leg mounted missiles, a few laser canons and small machine guns, and an Omni-Port on the back, in which I mounted a medium sized missile battery.  
  
"Pteras unit coming in for recon, sir." A female voice came over the speakers, Ziggi. I hadn't even noticed the battle started yet.  
  
"What is the ETA?" I checked my screens, verifying her information, which was accurate as always. I moved my arms, using my left hand to switch the fire mode on the back missiles to AA, or Anti-Air.  
  
On my screen, Benjamin and Sebastian in their Iron Cong Zoids were going up for the main attack with Harry. Harry was in his Dark Horn, at which I grimaced due to its speed and the fact that it was just too much of a waste of bullets. Any good warrior/accountant knew how much bullets cost, and knew that if you wanted to be successful, you saved the cash you wasted on bullets for R&D… But this was Harry, after all, and he was just a spoiled brat when it came down to it.  
  
"He will see us in Six… Five… Four…" Ziggi's voice had a quavering tone to it, as if she was showing fear, which I was sure was happening, even though she was trying to hide it. I gave her enough free will and human features to where she could seem almost human at times, and it made me sad sometimes that she only had a Zoid body.  
  
"Two… Firing Now…" I muttered as I pressed the launch trigger for the back- mounted twelve-missile launcher. I felt the weight of the missiles leave the Zoid, and heard them hit from a little ways off. "Did he see us?"  
  
"No sir! Nope nope nope! He didn't see us any! He went BOOM! And CRASH! And I think he's passed out right now." Ziggi replied happily. She was always this way in battle, all hyper and giddy. Or it could be that I hadn't been in battle for months, or was it years? Wow, it was that long… I would have to battle more, this wasn't befitting of someone with my skill. I used to be a top mercenary, now I've become little more than an REMF, sitting behind the lines, calling the shots. I almost had forgotten what happened in battles, calculating instead of firing. Accounting or not, this would be fun for the rest of my life.  
  
I felt the Zoid move around me, feeling it move forward and rushing in its curved movements. Ziggi was a great navigator, I trusted her more than I trusted Bob, who had no personality at all, even when he was in his Iron Cong. I looked down at my instruments. The Pteras was nothing more than an X on the radar screen. Sebastian was also down for the count, the GunSniper had seen to that.  
  
"What happened to Jamie?" A voice recognizable as Bit Cloud came over the speakers, and I grinned, tapping his dot on my screen. I'm saving you for last, that way I can prove your Liger and your skills wrong, so I can show everyone to fear the 'new' old guy.  
  
"Our fourth team member. That is-" Harry's voice replied, and I could see the smile coming up on his little rat face as I keyed my mic and voice- masking system. He was my friend, but I couldn't let him blow my cover.  
  
"Say my name, Harry Champ, and I will gladly terminate our contract." I said, coldly and frankly, smiling to myself. The voice came out on everyone's com sounding like Arin.  
  
"Arin?" I heard brad's voice coming over the com. My Zoid approached his 'dot' on the screen, staying out of sight, circling around him, and slowly closing in. Eight kilometers, seven kilometers five hundred meters, seven kilometers, Ziggi kept closing the radius of the circle, closing in the area, to reach my target of vengeance.  
  
I turned off the com and kept low to the ground, hoping he wouldn't catch the sig of the Sphinx. Ziggi crawled over the ground, keeping low, until the time was right to spring up and out, to confront the ShadowFox.  
  
"Arin? Where are you? Why are you fighting for the Champ Team? Are you and Harry-" Brad's voice came over the com, inquiring too much for my tastes, but Harry took offense. It figured.  
  
"Of course not!! Leena is the only one for me!" Harry was really angry at just the thought of someone other than Leena. What a fruit.  
  
"What is that?" Brad exclaimed as he saw my Sphinx "You're not Arin!" The ShadowFox fired at me, its Vulcan cannon blazing hundreds of rounds in my direction, only half hitting due to the circling of the running Sphinx made possible by Ziggi.  
  
"Got that right, Lover-Boy" I said in my Arin voice as the Sphinx planted its feet, swiveling around to stop and face the ShadowFox. "Good night, Brad."  
  
I launched the front two of my four leg-mounted heat seekers, which hit the middle of its back and the 'gut' of the ShadowFox, incapacitating it, but not harming it beyond repair. Then, to fix everything just right, and to make my point, I rattled off a few shots to the legs of the black Zoid with my 'face'-mounted machine guns. To think that its pilot, and its design, is damn good, only spoke volumes about Ziggi and I.  
  
Of course, he had to pilot his own Zoid, but who did that when they could run sharp edge of programming? I was the only one I knew of that could utilize that type of programming, other than the mythical Ultimate X Zoids, but there were few of those in existence, and I didn't care much for them, they needed a 'chosen one' to pilot them, when all it took was some lines of code and about half a pot of coffee to set up Ziggi. I was proud of her, but no matter what I did to her core logic, she seemed to follow me all over the place, no matter what. I didn't know what it was with her, but I didn't mind, she would be a great woman if she ever lived.  
  
This was more fun than being in the back lines, I'd rather do this than let the others do it for me. I would have to go back to doing mediocre at the Trials, but I could at least destroy while on the field. I looked to my radar, seeing that Benjamin's Cong had also fallen to the Liger around this time. I didn't know which transformation of it was out, but it wouldn't be too hard to handle, just get the Sphinx up next to it, make him think that he would win, and just obliterate him with the EMP.  
  
It had taken years to perfect the EMP on this machine to where it would only disable Zoids and not the Judge or the Sphinx itself. I spent twenty of my thirty-eight years in this world tinkering and tweaking. I finally got it when I was thirty-seven, and I didn't test it out on the field, other than on most Zoids. The Liger only got a taste of it when the Backdraft group had the prototype for testing. Yes, I let them test my products, so they could buy them when I put it on the market, making more money for greedy and 'lazy' old me.  
  
"Ziggi, Full throttle, get me close to the GunSniper and the Liger, as well as Harry's Dark Horn. Make sure he completes his mission." I leaned back in my chair, which was very soft, so I could sit in it longer, and reached over to my right, pulling a disc out of its sleeve, and putting it into a little tray, which inserted itself into the console.  
  
"Good choice of music, Sir. And yes, we will be there shortly." Ziggi replied as I felt the Sphinx turn and break into a full run. I smiled because the shock of the Zoid was almost completely absorbed when it got to my 'pod'. I put extra shock absorption equipment into there, so even if a missile hit, then I would feel a jolt, and maybe a keel, if it was strong enough even a tip. The only thing I would notice in here would be the shift of the gravity.  
  
"Enemy GunSniper in missile range, Sir. Fire?" Ziggi's voice came over loud and clear, and my hands almost touched the launch button for the Omni-Port missile battery. The song had come on, and my blood was pumping in anticipation of the fight with the Liger Zero.  
  
"No. That is for Harry and his Dark Horn to take care of. We will challenge the Liger Zero." I grasped my hand back from the missile launcher, putting it right next to it, and pressing a button to cycle the targets.  
  
"I commend you on your discretion, Sir. Liger Zero will be in target range in a few seconds. He seems to be chasing around the Dark Horn. Do not worry, Harry is running like the little twit he is, and is managing to keep out of the Liger's range." I smiled at Ziggi's comment about Harry, and sat further back into my chair, moving my hand to the missile button.  
  
"Clear to engage. Prepare for combat. Loosen up." I popped my fingers and moved my hands back to the firing controls. "Give me controlled roll, and bring up the screen."  
  
"Yes Sir. Shoot well." The internal lights dimmed, and the other controls started to flicker with life. The cockpit, being a sphere, lit up on all of the sides as a large LCD screen. This allowed for 360-degree vision, as well as the ability to see above and below. It would have seemed as if I was hovering in midair if it wasn't for the large leather seat on which I was sitting, and the supports on top and bottom holding it into place and keeping me facing the Liger Zero. As I pivoted, the trigger on the right hand of the chair changed purposes, from rear cannons to face cannons or leg missiles. The left side was always the Omni-Port touch-pad, which allowed me to rotate and hone in on enemies to fire. This system was immensely expensive, and was rarely used. Luckily for me, I created the thing, and it only took me lots of television screens, cameras, and fiber optic wires to get the effect I wanted.  
  
"What kind of Zoid is that?" Bit inquired with a great deal of curiosity as he stopped chasing Harry, who breathed a sigh of relief over the com and seemed to be stopping to watch the Sphinx and the Liger battle it out.  
  
"Harry, do not forget about our deal." The Arin-voice came over the speakers. "As for you, Bit Cloud, I made this myself, pure and simple. Transformation parts are too irritating to deal with, so I just built other copies of it."  
  
"Don't worry! I'll do my part!" Harry's Zoid took off towards the GunSniper at a speed that I would have deemed inhuman, but I shrugged it off to the fact that he shouldn't be counted as a human anyways.  
  
"You're not Arin, that's for sure." Bit speculated on his side of the communicator. I was glad that there were no cameras in the cockpit, that way no one could see my face.  
  
"You have something right for once, Bit Cloud." I smirked, and remembered to check and see which of the versions of Liger that Bit was using. It was the orange one. Great. "Now, can you and your little orange kitty-cat fight, or are you going in for new recruits of the Fuzzy Pandas Team?" I chuckled to myself as I saw the Liger itself snarl and growl. Good. Those who are clouded by rage fight with less efficiency, unless they're Leena of course….  
  
"Oh, and you're one to talk, with your big fruity purple thing…." Bit growled over the com, I knew he didn't like the fact that I had even mentioned the possibility of him being grouped with that bunch of losers. Well, that's his problem.  
  
"It's a Sphinx. And you will be its next victim." I looked down at my HUD and saw that BOTH the GunSniper and the Dark Horn were out of commission. How the hell could that have happened? My mind showed me a hilarious image of the GunSniper firing off everything like Leena usually did, and Harry firing away, not wanting to lose his nuts or more money for crossing me. I guess they're officially broken up then. At least we don't have to hear Harry whine as much anymore….  
  
"Yeah, right. Let's get him, Liger!" Bit was after me now. The chair in my cockpit faced his heading, and I grinned. Say good night, Bit Cloud. This is one match that you're not gonna win.  
  
Ziggi made the Sphinx break into a run, and had the Liger chasing us. We ran about the same speed, but I was ahead enough to clear any attack he could send, but he was still in range of my rear-cannons.  
  
"At least he isn't using the blue version, sir." Ziggi replied cheerfully, having fun, since she hadn't done this in a long time. If she were a person, she probably would have been jumping up and down and giggling.  
  
"Got that right, little lady. We'd be overrun and cooked by now." I let a grin creep onto my face.  
  
"You'd never let that happen, not in the Purple Haze, sir." Ziggi replied with an amount of petulance, which, if she had been anyone else, she would've been growled at.  
  
I replied to her by firing off a few rear cannon rounds at the Liger, which dodged all but two. I smirked and made the missile battery on the Zoid's back into the air, and pressed the ready button. Ziggi pulled the Sphinx into a sharp turn that almost toppled the Zoid over.  
  
"Is that all you got?" Bit was starting to annoy me, so I decided to humor him. I pressed the fire button on all of the missiles on the Omni-Port, which launched them into the air, straight up. They curved down, and started to rain upon the Liger en masse. It was about this time I wished I had equipped my scramblers, or my 'bombers' but it didn't matter, only one hit anyways, and that was right near the tail. Ziggi made the Purple Haze plant its feet into the ground. She then spun it around to face the Liger.  
  
"Oh, so we want a showdown now?" Bit replied to Ziggi's move.  
  
"It is time, Sir." You could hear the sadness in Ziggi's voice. She didn't want the battle to end, and she didn't want to be left alone again. She could always have altered the EMP frequency, but she wouldn't do that. It affected everything that didn't run on the Judge frequencies, or the Sphinx frequency, and kept it down for an hour.  
  
"Thank you, Ziggi. I hope that after this, you will be ready for another series of battles, will you not?" I grinned. I knew what her reaction would be, and I knew how she would take it. The Liger rushed forward.  
  
"OF COURSE! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!!!" She was happy, I guess.  
  
"Buster-!" Bit's voice could be heard over my comlink, where his voice could be heard in the receiver in my ear, but the mic was off.  
  
I flipped the casing off of the EMP button on top of the trigger-stick on the right hand spot, and grinned. The Liger was in midair. Ziggi rushed the Sphinx backward, to avoid the inevitable landing of the Liger. I pressed the little red button.  
  
BZZZZZZT, WHOOOOSH!  
  
The sound of the electronic wind from a nuclear explosion sounded off, screaming away from me. The Liger hit the ground, and froze.  
  
"What the heck?" Bit could be heard again. He was wondering what was going on.  
  
"Winner, the Champ Team!" The Judge sounded off the end of the battle, and the fight ended.  
  
"How?" I could hear over the com. Ziggi picked up the leave of the Sphinx, taking off, leaving the general area of the battlefield. I took off to an area out of sensor range, and hopped out, handing over the Sphinx to Jove, who was waiting with a jeep.  
  
"Thanks. Get back home." Once Jove got in and took off, I started my drive over to where the Blitz Team claimed residence. It was a very peaceful drive. I reached my destination, and looked to the seat next to me. Cookies. Why Fi, you shouldn't have. I smiled as I picked up the large plate, and went to do the equivalent of knocking on the door. Doc Toros answered.  
  
"Why hello, Terrance. What brings you here?" He took one look at the plate and I could almost see the thought running through his mind; Oh great, Bit is going to lose to Leena today as well as that guy in the Purple Zoid.  
  
"I am just here to offer my condolences, and to talk to everyone. It's been a while since I've been here." I lied somewhat. I wanted to see the look of agitation on their faces as they tried to figure out whom the heck that was, and what the deal was between him and Harry. I would gloat after a while, but I didn't want them to know it was I.  
  
"Alright, come on in, but they don't even know why they lost, and if you were watching, you might be able to tell them why. If you can, it'll keep them from bothering me and Jamie about it." He had a look on his face that said something, but I didn't want to look into it. He was alive when I was battling, and he may suspect that I was piloting that Zoid, but he knew as well as I that I was blind, and that 'man' was a great pilot.  
  
"Well, I have a few ideas on what happened. Let's go inside." I know everything that happened, and I know why it did too. I won't tell you that though, so let's just eat some cookies so I can gloat a little… 


End file.
